Most of my photos are now up on my MobileMe Gallery. Race photos will be put up once I receive them in the mail from Nick and buy the photos online. Some more travel photos will also be contributed by Meaghan once she gets a chance to upload them.
Enjoy!
j
Friday morning we packed up shop, made a quick trip out to Yallingup (a surfing mecca on the Indian Ocean, north of Margaret River) and literally admired the break- it was the most gorgeous and perfect break I’ve ever seen and it killed me that we had to leave and book it back to Perth! Next time… 
Yallingup Break
Had an uneventful and rather boring drive back to Perth now that we were back on the freeway, and made it to Nick & Sonya’s house in Scarborough – they had so kindly left us their keys while they were out of town for the weekend so we could repack our bags and get a shower before heading into Perth to return our return car and get to the airport. We made it to the car rental place just in time, and were able to store our luggage (including my humungo bike box) at a hotel next door so that we could walk around downtown and have dinner and relax for a few hours rather than spending the whole night at the airport (my flight wasn’t until midnight and Meg’s wasn’t until 5am!)
We had a superb dinner at Balti on Victoria and Adelaide Terrace, then picked up two pints of Little Creatures Ale (the closest thing to an amber ale I’ve found in Aus!) at the bottleshop and enjoyed an evening stroll along the Swan River with paper bags in hand! It was the first time I’d seen the race course since last Sunday’s sweltering experience, and there was something really neat about walking along the course in the breezy dusk, reflecting, beer in hand. I felt incredibly complete with my performance at the race and really proud of everything it took to get me here mentally, physically, emotionally (and financially!) this year.
Now for a few weeks of taper and my annual two weeks off, before I start gearing up and thinking about my plans for 2010…
Thanks for reading!! J xoxo
After leaving Margaret River, we meandered along the gorgeous country roads of southwestern WA towards the town of Pemberton, then through the majestic Valley of the Giants forests of giant karri and tingle trees to the bustling metropolis of Walpole. We stayed at the Walpole Lodge, a small hostel with several dorm and double rooms branching off a large main common area which a huge central dining table and living room with a deliciously cozy smelling wood stove (yes, it gets cold enough for a wood stove here at night!!) (Sidebar- there was only one other option for accommodation in town, the “Tingle All Over YHA Hostel”… hmmmm… not sure if a full body rash is what we were going for so we opted out of that one . As soon as we walked into the Walpole Lodge I felt my whole being breathe a sigh of relief- it was simple and homey and splendid!! The managers, a lovely older couple (probably in their 60’s) were so incredibly nice and friendly, it made the whole ambiance of the place amazing. We stayed in for dinner and cooked up the rest of our pasta and vegetables (including broad beans we still had from Nick’s donation last week!). I slept more soundly than I have in ages to the peaceful sound of the Walpole breeze and the crackling of the wood fire.
Thursday morning we headed out early to get to the Tree Top Walk when it opened, which was a great idea because we had the whole walk practically to ourselves, except for the native birds singing and the light wind. The walk is a 600m loop of bridges that climb through the forest canopy, reaching a peak of 40m in height! (Dad- you may not have liked it, especially because you could feel it moving slightly in the breeze- and yes it was totally safe!) Some of the karri’s and tingles in the forest are estimated to be 400 years old!!!! I found this to be really incredible, imagining that the tree before me had been growing and living right in that spot since the 1600’s… unreal! It was definitely worth the near 300km drive!
Tree Top Walk
Grandmother Tingle > 400 yrs old!
After we finished taking the obligatory pictures of ourselves inside huge hollowed out stumps, we continued on to the town of Denmark to get a latte and then turned around to hit some beaches on the Southern Ocean on our way back to west coast. Our favorite by far was Greens Pool where we hopped in the water for some snorkeling and beach time – now that’s my kind of road trip!
Greens Pool, Denmark
I should have been more diligent about blogging while I was traveling this past week, but I totally slacked off since our access to internet was so sparse… and I guess I was just too busy having fun and *trying to* relax after the race.
We spent 2 nights in the Margaret River wine region which was beautiful, and the town of Margaret River itself is very fun and quaint. On Tuesday, we drove down to the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse (the southwestern tip of Australia where the Indian Ocean intersects with the Southern Ocean)- VERY cool for an oceanographer to see this! We also stopped for a quick dip in the Indian Ocean which was hilarious because Meg had only been in the ocean a couple of times before and never in strong waves- of which there were plenty at this beach!! We ran in and out for a while trying to keep from getting sucked out on the steep and wild beach- fun!! We had a relatively early night after dinner and a pint at the Settler’s Tavern in MR as we were both still tired from the race.
Wednesday we were finally feeling energetic enough to go for a surf so Meg signed up for a lesson (her first time!) with Josh Palmateer’s surf academy at the Margaret River Rivermouth and I decided I’d rent a board and wetty and tag along with the group. Didn’t we pick the WORST day of the week to go- when we pulled up to the parking lot at the break it was raining so hard it felt like hail and the winds were kicking about 50km/h!! But as I’ve learned with surfing, you can just never predict what the conditions are going to be like when you have the opportunity to go, so you might as well just go anyways and make the best of it!!! Even though the conditions were pretty… mushy lets say… we had an absolute blast!! Meg ended up having one (super ripped and hot) surf instructor all to herself, and was standing up catching waves within an hour! Wish I had some photos of the look on her face- it’s SOOO awesome to feel the energy of someone catching their first waves!!! I actually caught a few decent rides with Josh’s enthusiastic support- all the instructors saw me eat it really good a few times but they were impressed that I was going for it anyway (“well…you’re sure not scared” they said, hahaha. I wouldn’t go that far… but getting whipped can be fun sometimes too) . A glutton for punishment!! Not surprisingly, I completely ran out of steam in about 1.5 hours since it was only 2 days after the race and we had to work REALLY hard to get out behind the break every time due to the conditions. I would HIGHLY recommend Josh’s surf school to anyone who is passing by Margaret River- he and all of his instructors are absolute champions, with incredibly infectious enthusiasm and energy, and they give you 100% of their attention (they don’t even bring their own boards out to the water!) which is definitely not the case for some surf schools I’ve been to where the instructors are off doing their own thing showing off and having attitude. (Right Mel and Chops? Apparently Josh moves up to Broome (northern WA) in the winters to teach aborigine school students how to surf, and his surf camps have made a real difference to the kids in these communities (i.e. they are actually coming to school and trying hard in their classes so they can participate in his awesome camps!) Way to make a difference doing what you love Josh!! You’re an inspiration!
After drying off from our MR surf adventure, we made a pit stop in Margaret River to get warmed up with a latte, and to stock up on the world’s best underwear (Bond’s – only sold in Australia) at the local Target. Then we hopped in the car and headed for the famous Southern Forests, which I first read about in Bill Bryson’s hilarious travel book about Australia “In a Sunburned Country”…
The only thought crossing my mind as I crossed the finish line on Sunday was……. actually I don’t think any thoughts were crossing my mind at that point, but the feeling was something like “omigod I made it!”. The conditions were incredibly tough for the race- winds were 30km/h plus on the swim – the waves were so big there were WHITE CAPS!! The swim was one large loop with stairs installed into the river to enter and exit the water. The race organizers were not very clear about the distance between and colour of the buoys when I asked at the meeting on Saturday, so during the race I kept thinking I must be close to the turn around… only the realize there were at least 2 more buoys! This happened several times. Impressively, I managed to stay calm on the swim even with the humungo waves and white wash and finished feeling strong and powerful (57:05 for 3km). The run to T1 was quite long- they had us cross the road and run a loop around transition to enter from the back, but luckily I wasn’t feeling dizzy or out of breath. I even remembered to wipe off the dirt mustache the river left me with the towel I placed at my bike for that purpose (gotta get some good photos you know!).
I had a phenomenal bike, I think the best bike in a triathlon of my life (well maybe tied with Calgary 70.3!). There was only one short section where we had a really strong headwind, and Alan’s advice to pick up the cadence and switch to an easier gear really worked- I was passing heaps of people who were grinding away in a hard gear. There was a nice tailwind on the long North/South section of the bike and I aimed to maintain a medium to high cadence with lots of power in that section to take advantage of the wind. In the end, I think I may have gone a little too hard on the bike (2:20:47 for 80km) because my legs were getting tired on the 3rd and 4th laps and I’m not sure if that contributed to the difficulty I had maintaining pace on the run. I think I need to do more bricks to practice running hard off a hard bike for next year. I also need to practice picking up water bottles at aid stations with my left hand if I’m going to be doing any more races in left-hand drive countries! Luckily I didn’t drop any bottles but it definitely took more focus that usual to make it through the aid station successfully! Andrew and Penny and Vince you’ll be happy to know I exited the bike like a champ- left my shoes on the bike without tripping or losing a shoe or anything!
By the time I was on the run course the temperature was >32C with little shade and no more wind! The run was easily the toughest run I’ve ever done and I actually don’t even remember it very well as I think I was delirious. The second two laps (5km-15km) were really really tough and slow and HOT and I recall being really upset at times at how strong I had started the race and how poorly I felt like I was finishing. I was also angry at myself for not having trained harder for the run, and for having gone out so hard on the bike… but then I remembered that I couldn’t really have trained any harder for the run because I was injured most of the summer, and my logic on the bike had been “well the run is going to hurt either way so I might as well lay down the hammer on the bike where I know I can pick up time”. Somehow I kept on running even though I really thought I had head exhaustion and couldn’t really think straight at all. My first lap was actually pretty decent and on target pace around 25 minutes. After that, I started walking through all of the aid stations (something I have NEVER done before!) just so I could get all of the fluid possible into my system. I was drinking everything they had- water, coke, sports drink, water. There was ice at one station and I put it down my shirt and held some in my palms like Alan told me to do to cool down- it was heaven. I had some salt tablets with me so I took one of those on each lap, and somehow managed to keep taking a gel every 30 minutes too (thanks to my timer beeping every 15 minutes reminding me to eat and drink- I had no brainpower at this point to remember what I should be doing). Luckily they also had sunsceen at one aid station so I tried to keep slathering some of that on as well. Lap 2 and 3 REALLY slowed down (around 27 and 29 min per 5km lap, which is insanely slow for me) but everyone was suffering on the run in the heat- lots of people walking, even the Aussies!! There was a real sense of camaraderie among all the competitors at this point in the race, with all of us pushing our limits in such tough conditions just to finish the race. I caught up to another Canadian man (JP from Quebec) just before the last lap and he was really struggling as well. Together we somehow managed to pick it up for most of the last 5km- I couldn’t have done it without him. He slowed down about 2km before the finish and told me to keep going. I really don’t even remember being excited about being almost done- I was just totally zoned on continuing to run towards the line, and then feeling huge HUGE relief when I finally saw the finish chute. My run time was 1:50:04, 5-10 minutes off my goal, but I’m happy I finished somewhat stronger than I was going in the middle of the run. I almost passed out when I crossed the line and the volunteers helped me into the medical tent where I stayed for about 45 minutes with ice bags on my groin and head until my temperature returned to normal (was around 37.8C when I finished- I felt like I would never be cool again!). At least I was able to take in fluids the whole day – the guy beside me in the med tent was not able to keep anything down on the run and was on IV when I arrived!
My total time was 5:12:06 (see below for splits). I was secretly hoping to finish top 10, but in the end came 17th in my age group out of 38 who finished; 351 overall / 750 athletes; 76 female / 285 females in total). After seeing the results, I don’t feel so bad as the 1st place in my category finished in 4:23 (faster than some of the elites!!!) and all top 10 women in my category were sub 5 hours (which is a ridiculously fast time, especially given the conditions). I had an excellent bike split (12th in my age group) which is something to be proud of as I worked very hard on my bike this year and it has clearly paid off!
My times:
5:12:06 total
57:05 Swim (3km) with white caps and jellyfish!!!!
2:20 T1
2:20:47 Bike (80km) not sure what my pace was but I think around 34km/h
2:02 T2
1:50:04 Run 20.5ishkm (average 5:26/km according to my Garmin)
Overall, I feel very happy with the race- I stayed calm the whole time (even when I felt I had no idea how on earth I would complete the run) and it was technically well executed (which was my primary goal). I think the whole race from the time I woke up was the closest experience I’ve ever had to being in “the zone” that I’ve ever had, and I know that is due to all my hard training and mental preparation for this day. I owe huge thanks to my AMAZING coach Alan and my teammates at Leading Edge – I was thinking of you all and feeling your support all day! And of course to my family and to Choppy who have an unwavering belief in me and will always support and encourage me no matter what I choose to do. Thank you!!
I have improved incredibly this year both in my times and technique, but most importantly to me in my professionalism as an athlete. I have taken the leap from thinking of myself as a recreational competitor to an athlete who shows up to race and to win, which for me was a giant leap in confidence and believing in myself and my abilities. It really takes something to relate to yourself as a champion, before the results exist to prove to others that that is what you are. I am really excited to see what the next year(s) will hold.
Thanks again everyone for everything- love you all!! Am in Margaret River now (south of Perth) taking a few days of R&R to decompress and assimilate the experience of the race, and to do some surfing and sightseeing as well.
Rest well!
j xoxox
PS Will post race photos soon- Nick took quite a few and I’ll buy some of the ones from the race photographers if they turned out!
Sorry I’ve been negligent of my blog posts the past few days- things suddenly got pretty crazy with the race fast approaching (yesterday we had team Canada meeting, photos, athlete registration and dinner; today we had bike check in, and race briefing) and I was careful to make sure I was getting enough R&R in there too! On Thursday we also had a great visit to Caversham Wildlife park where I got to feed kangaroos and wallabies and pet a koala!! After we watched the sunset over the Indian Ocean at Scarborough Beach and had battered Barramundi (fish) & chips at a pub on Cottlesloe! Will post pics from that adventure later…for now, it’s game time!
It’s 9:00pm here the night before the big race and I’m feeling great. My workouts this week have felt strong and I’ve tapered well since I’m starting to feel antsy and my body wants to race. I’ve given myself lots of time in the past few days to relax, read, stretch and just have general quiet time. I feel more prepared (in terms of planning ahead as well as psychologically) than ever before for a race which is a great feeling!! I’ve had lots of supportive notes from my friends, family and coach today which is the icing on the cake! It’s been a long and great year leading up to this race and I can’t wait to lay it all on the line and see how it goes.
Thanks to everyone for all your love and support- talk to you after the race!!
j xoxox
Today I woke up around 7am (isn’t it nice to go to bed early and sleep until you wake up? I am LOVING it!!) and had a relaxing morning surfing the web and chatting with two of my best friends Randy (in Toronto) and Kayla (in Newcastle, UK)- I love skype!! Finally got my butt on my bike around 10am and headed out for an intensity set. I had wanted to pick up the rest of my ride to Scarborough that I missed yesterday, but it would have been tough to do a focused set while navigating the city roads so I opted to stay on the bike tracks around the river instead. There were LOTS more triathletes out and about compared to the last few days making the training atmosphere much more exciting. It’s really cool to see so many triathletes from all over the world come together for such an event. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm again (have I mentioned I love Perth?? and the winds were actually quite reasonable today- hopefully they’ll stay calm on Sunday.
After the run I did some core at the hotel and headed out for a short 30min run with my newly arrived 2nd roommate Meaghan (from Winnipeg). Big props to Meaghan to making out for the run straight off her long journey from Winnipeg via Vancouver, LA, and Brisbane to Perth! We ran part of the course, and checked out the stairs they have installed into the river for exit from the swim (I’ve never exited on metal stairs before!!)
For lunch I prepared a delicious salad with the fresh vegetables Nick donated, with fresh lettuce, fennel, broad beans and cherry tomatoes, topped with fresh squeezed lemon, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette. Had lunch on the patio in the sun with my current book - “Half of a Yellow Sun” – By Chimananda Ngozi Adichie (takes place during the Biafran war in Nigeria in the late 60’s- watch her TED talk on the dangers of a single story if you haven’t already- phenomenal!!)
Fresh lunch on the patio with Adichie & Lonely Planet
I decided my day wouldn’t be complete without a bit of adventuring around Perth so I left the hotel around 4:30pm on a mission to the district of Subiaco, a funky, trendy shopping and eating area east of downtown. I took the free downtown bus (the CAT) to the train station and hopped on the train for 3 stops to Subiaco station and wandered around the shops and cafes on Rokeby Street. Took myself out for Thai at Lanna Thai on Hay street- pineapple chicken fried rice hit the spot! I caught the train back to Perth Central only to realize the free CAT stops running on weekdays at 6:21pm (exactly so I had a lovely evening stroll back to the hotel through the funky cobbled brick malls and mews of the CBD. Got to snap a few good shots too
Subiaco Hotel- a famous pub
Rokeby St. Subiaco
Mews between malls downtown
Murray St. Mall
Off to bed now- tomorrow AM I have an early swim back at Beatty park (the local outdoor pool) and a 3 x 1000m run, then Nick is picking Meaghan and I up at 2pm to visit Caversham Wildlife park where we can “meet and feed koalas, kangeroos, quokkas, emus, dingoes and more” – the best day of my life!!!
Another great day in Perth! Yesterday Nick picked up and gave me a ride with my gear over to the Mounts Bay Waters Hotel where Team Canada will be staying for the event. On the way we also went for groceries (at IGA if you can believe it- I didn’t realize they were international) as the hotel room is a 2 bedroom apartment with in room kitchen, so now I’m all set to cook on my own- delicious and affordable!
After getting my stuff moved in and greeting one of my roommates Carolyn Hubbard (from Deep Cove, BC), I headed out for a spectacular ride winding along the Swan River all the way from Perth out to Fremantle at the coast, then I turned north and headed towards Cottlesloe beach for my first ever view of the Indian Ocean!!! For an oceanographer, seeing a new ocean for the first time is pretty exciting- I’m hoping to make it down to the Southern Ocean after the race and then I’ll have seen most of the major oceans! Cottlesloe is really beautiful, miles and miles of exposed and rugged white sand beach contrasting the turquoise Indian Ocean and the variety of green shrubs and dune grasses. There was some SERIOUS wind happening and I saw several of the most talented kiteboarders and wind surfers I’ve ever watched- they must have been having a blast! Another sport I’m dying to try soon… maybe after the race, and if not here I can always try it back at Jericho Beach!
Kiteboarders at Cottlesloe
Cottlesloe Beach- my first sight of the Indian Ocean!
I didn’t make it all the way up to Scarborough as I’d planned because I was only averaging about 22km/h due to the huge headwinds most of the ride, so I turned east and found my way back to the hotel (47km total over 2hrs). The craziest experience of the bike ride was having a magpie attack my helmet twice and chase me down the street!! I could see it’s shadow following my head and I was trying to swat it away with my hand (not sure if that would have worked- it was huge!) Carolyn lived in Aus for 6 years and said it’s normal for them to attack you in nesting season if you come into their nesting zone. They should have warning signs for us foreigners to cover our heads!!
In the late afternoon, Carolyn and I braved our way on the public transit system and with a trusty (and essential!) road map that Nick gave me from his car to find the closest outdoor swimming pool to go for a 2km swim.
At 7pm, Nick and his wife Sonya stopped by our hotel to pick us up for dinner, and just happened to drop off about 4 bags of fresh vegetables (spinach, artichokes, fennel, lemons off the TREE) and homemade tomato sauce, and fresh biscuits from his parents house (they are Italian)- I was speechless!!!!!!! Nick if you are reading this you are a god and I don’t know how to thank you enough for all you’ve done to make this trip amazing so far! After getting over the shock of all the delicious looking veggies and treats, we went for dinner near the Bell Tower (north shore of the river) at an Indian joint called Annalamakshi where the food is all you can eat and the price is whatever you feel you have to give! It was delicious and the service was impeccable and very gracious. Got home early and passed out by 10pm for 9 hours of sleep… I love training vacations!
Fresh goodies from Nick & the D'Adamo's!
What an amazing day! After breakfast yesterday, I returned back to the hostel only to receive a Welcome message left for me by my mom’s fantastic colleague Nick (with whom I’ve been corresponding about my trip for several weeks- he’s a local and has been sending me mounds of great advice and helping me plan my trip). I found some change and called him back, and he said he was on his way over to the hostel to say hi and see if I wanted to take a drive around the city! I was really overwhelmed by his generosity and thoughtfulness- here is someone my mom has only met once taking time out of his day to take me for a tour of the city on a Monday afternoon! So Nick and I had a lovely few hours catching up and touring around central Perth- he took me up to Kings Park first (the highest point in the city) where you can really get a feel for the city layout and see all the main roads and twists and turns of the Swan River. I could see most of the race course from here which will be an excellent advantage, and Nick gave me the low-down on the typical daily wind directions to expect, temperatures, etc. Apparently, Perth is one of the windiest capital cities in the WORLD (I learned this later through experience on my bike ride)- good thing I’ve been riding out at Iona Beach in Richmond on some pretty windy days lately (>70kmph) to get used to riding in a head wind, especially with race wheels on (the deep dish carbon really takes a slam in a crosswind- it’s tricky to keep your front wheel going straight ahead!) I expect the swim will be a bit rough as well, though the winds seem to be mellower (easterly) in the morning and the onshore (souwesterly) winds pick up later in the arvo, so hopefully it won’t be too bad yet at 8am!
After driving part of the bike course (it’s actually on a freeway- it will be interesting to see how they manage to shut the lanes for us!), Nick took me out to lunch at Raffles, a restaurant/bar where he apparently had his first job back in highschool! We had a great chat- Nick also works for IOC (Intergovernmenal Oceanographic Commission)-UNESCO (where my mom will be taking her new job in Paris), so we have lots in common in terms of working in the marine sciences. I learned lots about Perth, including the major crops (wheat), fish exports (reef fish like grouper), where the water reservoirs are and problems associated with water shortages in Perth, why Perth was built on the river inland and not on the ocean (apparently this portion of the Indian Ocean is quite animated and the inland port provided a bit more shelter), and lots of other great facts! Nick dropped me off around 3pm, when I got down to putting my bike together- only took about 45 minutes so I’m getting faster!
I went for a one hour ride around the Swan River- there are bike paths EVERYWHERE in Perth and heaps of runners/walkers/cyclists out using them all the time! It’s magnificent- you can literally transverse the city in all directions on these gorgeous and safe trails!! I have to say that the whole driving on the left is really taking me a while to get used to- it’s almost like trying to write with your left hand, it’s very awkward and king of hurts your brain!! I just keep saying to myself “stay left stay left stay left” anytime I get to an intersection to turn or see another person coming towards me, and when I have to cross the road I can’t seem to remember which way to look so I just look both ways! I know… I’m so lame… I’ll get used to it soon. The ride around the river was just stunning, Perth is absolutely lovely and I’ve decided I need to live here!! I then rode out to the University of Western Australia (also along the bike path!) which was altogether marvelous as well- the perfect mix of Australian nature and British/Ivy league style architecture! I think I’ll just get a job there Got back from my ride and headed back to the trail along the Northern part of the river (where the run course is for the race) for a short run, and was blessed by a gorgeous sunset over the river and the city. The summative word that comes to mind when thinking of Perth so far is: breathtaking!!
I have a few more updates about last night but have to run now as Nick is coming to pick me up and transfer me to the Team Canada hotel… then I have a 2 hour bike ride (thinking of heading down to Fremantle and along the coast up to Scarborough perhaps?) and then I have to find a pool for a 2km swim… will write more and hopefully add maps and pics soon!
I heart Perth!!
j xoxo
Arrived late last night (around 1:30am local time) – what an insanely long trip!! Think i was traveling for about 34hrs!! Right now I’m staying in a quaint student hostel called Townsend Lodge with private accommodations but a shared bathroom & kitchen- it’s perfect for only $35 a night until I move into the Team Canada hotel tomorrow! Got woken up around 9am today and decided to get up and get some breakky cuz I was STARVING, now am fighting the jet lag as all I want to do is go back to sleep!! Actually I don’t think it’s so much jet lag as I only slept twice on the trip here, for about 8hrs in total altogether. Planes are just not the most comfortable places for sleeping, even with the lovely neck pillow Ricardo gave me for the trip (which waas AWESOME- thanks!) Note to self: GET AN AISLE SEAT on long trips- I had to drink so much water to stave off dehydration, then had to pee all the time, and no one wants to be making their aisle neighbor get up every 30 min… lame!!
Hong Kong was fun though it was REALLY hot and I wasn’t super prepared to be walking around with a full backpack and running shoes/socks, but I managed to take the train into the city (right downtown) and then walked over to the Peak Tram which takes you up a VERY steep hill to the peak of HK where you can get beautiful views! Will post some pics soon- think I got some goodies I think HK kind of looks like a cross between Vancouver and San Francisco – very green and on the ocean and Pacific Rim style like Van, very steep hills like SF, but then it has these massive skyscrapers which neither Van or SF can boast. I would really like to have made it to the markets or to one of the nearby islands (i.e. LLama island is only a 30 min ferry ride from where I got dropped off by the train at Hong Kong Central Station) to get a more authentic experience as I was basically walking around RIGHT downtown through the CBD/ banking district skyscrapers, so maybe on the way home as I have a longer layover then. Want to get some yummy seafood!!
At some point today I have to put my bike together and then I have a short run and a 45-60min ride on the schedule. Luckily I am just a few blocks from the course so am planning to go check it out! I am also going to look into the cost of renting a car while I’m here and evaluating if it’s worth it- i’d like to do some day trips around town and would be much more accessible with a car, plus it’s just such a relief to have your own transportation you know!! In Canada you can rent a car for like $13 a day so if it’s that affordable I’m totally in.
I can’t believe I’m actually in Australia- I’ve been dying to come here for SOOO long and it’s really trippy to actually BE here. Especially because I was already so close with the culture through my ex boyfriend Dizzy (from Hobart) and all my Aussie friends from Whistler, but it’s been a few years since then so I’m rediscovering all the funny quirks now. Like a regular coffee with cream is called a “Flat White” and when you get bacon with your breakfast it’s REAL, like, Canadian back bacon style. And I love the accent sooo much- now I just want to sit and listen to people talk on the street!! hahaa… I’m such a dork!! I just remembered while sipping my Flat White at breakky how much I LOVE the Aussie sweets Tim Tams (chocolate covered wafers) and ESPECIALLY the famous Cherry Ripe chocolate bars (and I’m not even really a sweets person) so am going on a hunt this afternoon- don’t worry coach I won’t eat too much chocolate before the race, just need a little taste!!
Now to drag myself off this comfy bed and get my butt in gear… Write more soon!
J xoxo
